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Mr.
A. J. Smart gave the following as his recollections
of the school in 1838:
"My
earliest recollections of the Raynortown School go back
to year 1838. The school house was a low one-story
building, about 18x22 feet, containing but one room,
dimly lighted by two small windows on the north and
two on the south, and one each on the east and west
sides."
"The
furniture consisted of stationary desks or inclined
tables, made of pine boards, and fastened to the sides
of the room, except a break at the west end of the north
table, where there was a desk made of pine boards, standing
at right angles with the north table on a raised platform.
This was the teacher's desk. This desk had a drawer
in it, the only one in the room."
"In
front of the desks were board benches that were as long
as the desks upon which the scholars sat. There
were no backs to these benches. To be seated the boy
or girl had to climb over the benches, except at the
ends. There were two lower benches running east
and west through the middle of the room for the use
of the smaller or primary scholars. These benches were
like the others, without backs or supports for the children
to lean against."
"In
the center of the room was a cast-iron box stove which
burned wood--and I might say small children-- when the
weather was cold and an effort was made to keep the
scholars in the corners of the room from freezing. It
burned wood inside and children on the outside who were
near it."
"Behind
the door, which was located in the east end of the south
side, were nails driven in the board ceilings for the
children to hang their hats on. On the floor was
a pail of water with a tin dipper in it, and in the
corner was a broom. Such was the home of education
in Raynortown, now Freeport, in 1838."
Although
there had been repeated unsuccessful attempts to induce
a majority of the voters to take action towards the
erection of a new building , the school continued in
this building with very little change until about 1852.
A few of the bolder spirits finally made a night attack
on the old building, cutting away some of the posts
and otherwise demolishing it so as to render a new building
a necessity. After the attack, the old building
was sold for $50.00 and a lot was purchased on Main
Street. First a one-story building was built with
a second story being added about 1867-68. The
new building was occupied about December 1, 1852. While
the new house was being erected a shop was hired for
$8.00 (for three month's rent) to accommodate the students.
The number of scholars between the age of 4 and
21 years in 1858 is given as 203. The total expenses
for the year was $414.63. From 1860 to 1872 there
is no record of any notable change in the district.
In October 1872, when the school building had again
became inadequate for the ideas of the more progressive
element in the village, steps were taken towards the
purchase of a new site and the erection a new building.
A considerable number of the voters, however, were not
ready to accept the proposition of increased expenses.
Every effort towards improvements was contested. For
three years the struggle was waged: twenty-two recorded
meetings were held during that time. Finally,
a site at the northwest corner of South Grove and Pine
Street was purchased, a plan approved, and a contract
awarded for $3,858. The new building was opened
October 7, 1875. A price of $790.00 was received for
the old Main Street property. A progressive step
in Freeport's educational system took place in 1887
when the free textbook system was adopted.At the annual
meeting in August, 1888, it was again suggested that
the school had outgrown its quarters and was over-crowded.
On December 11, 1888, it was decided to build an extension,
which was done under the direction of the Board of Trustees.
This brought the building to the size it was when burned.
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January
10, 1893, will long be remembered by the residents of
Freeport for on that night the school building was totally
destroyed by fire. According to the South Side
Observer: " Excelsior Hook & Ladder Company
arrived with ladders and pails, but the only water to
be had was pumped from neighboring wells. The
village had no water supply or fire apparatus and it
was soon seen that nothing could be done to save the
schoolhouse. All efforts were then bent to safeguarding
nearby homes. Scores of men worked hard throwing snow
on the roofs. Snow on the roofs of the Methodist
parsonage and church doubtless prevented much trouble,
as burning cinders fell in showers and were carried
hundreds of yards eastward".
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The fire
was both destructive and constructive, the old
plot of ground was exchanged for one diagonally opposite
on the southeast corner of Pine and Grove Streets.
On March 3, 1893, at a district meeting, the proposition
for a new ten-room structure of brick was approved at
a cost of $30,000 to replace the old building which
had stood on the opposite corner. The cornerstone was
laid on July 29,1894.
The year
of 1895 saw another year's work being added to the "High
School," as it was then called, so that the graduate
necessarily completed a full four years course of academic
work. In 1896 the Academic Department of the Union
Free School was granted a certificate by the Board of
Regents admitting it as a school of Junior Grade to
the University of the State of New York. This step marked
the beginning of the High School, although it was not
until the following year (October 1899) that the
Academic Department of the Union School was formally
made a High School. The first class was not graduated
until 1901. (On October 5th, 1898 the Academic Department
had been registered as a school of the middle grade
with a total enrollment of 545.)
The growth
of the school had been so rapid that in 1903 the Assembly
Room was partitioned and used for the various classes
while store rooms in neighboring buildings were rented
to accommodate pupils in the grades. An appropriation
was approved, and in 1903-1904 a large addition was
made to the school building at a cost of nearly $30,000.
In 1907
another building was erected at the corner of Ocean
and Seaman Avenues to accommodate the grade pupils in
the northern section of Freeport, local educational
facilities expanding so rapidly that in 1907 the office
of superintendent was established. Growth continued
rapidly and in 1909 a third building was erected at
the corner of Long Beach Avenue and Archer Street
in the Southern section of the town.
During
the latter part of 1912 the urgent need of new school
accommodations was felt, for it had become necessary
to hire a room for classes in the village and to place
many pupils on a part-time schedule.
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In
1922 the growth of the school population became so pressing,
that the old Freeport Cemetery, adjoining the Grove
Street School, was chosen as the site of a new school.
The new building completed in 1925 accommodated the
7th and 8th grades from all elementary schools. The
freshmen used the first floor as Junior High School
while the sophomores, juniors and seniors occupied the
second floor as a Senior High School. The Grove
School became a K-6 school.
A
long term building plan was initiated in 1926 and in
accordance with this plan additions were built to Archer
Street and Columbus in 1928; a new Cleveland Avenue
School was constructed in 1932 and the Raynor Street
site was acquired in 1927.
The
total enrollment in the Junior-Senior High School in
1925 was 887, but by 1941 the enrollment skyrocketed
to 1779. This necessitated using the Grove Street
Elementary School to house the 7th grade. The overcrowded
conditions became acute during World war II. The
Junior and Senior high Schools were on split session
and it reached a point where the Board had to rent two
classrooms in the Lutheran Church to relieve the overcrowding
at the Seaman Avenue School.
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The
end of the war saw continued rapid growth in Freeport
population. In answer to the ever increasing demand
for school facilities, the Atkinson School was constructed
in 1949, the Bayview Avenue School in 1952, followed
by the Giblyn School in 1962. The Atkinson School was
named after Caroline G. Atkinson, a teacher with over
50 years of service in the School District. The Giblyn
School was named after after Leo. F. Giblyn, a member
of the Board of Education for over twenty years. The
Junior High School remained crowded even with the building
of a new Senior High School in 1960. Consequently a
seventh grade center was added to the Atkinson School
in 1964. When the new High School was built, the old
Junior-Senior High School was renamed the John W. Dodd
Junior High School, in the honor of Dr. Dodd who served
as Superintendent of the Freeport School District for
over 35 years.
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Freeport
was one of the first school systems in New York State
to voluntarily desegregate its schools. An open enrollment
program was instituted in 1962 that permitted black
pupils from the all-black Cleveland Avenue School to
cross boundaries to enroll in other schools in the District.
The next step came in the summer of 1963 when the Cleveland
Avenue School was closed and converted into a high school
annex and its pupils bussed to all-white neighboring
schools.
Meanwhile,
the non-white population had grown in the Columbus Avenue
School, and this school, too, became predominately black
. At that juncture, the Board of Education adopted the
integration plan that is now in force. It provided for
the ninth grade to be moved to the High School, the
seventh and eight grades to the Junior High, and the
fifth and sixth grades from the entire District to the
Atkinson addition, bussing an integrated population
of grades 1-4 pupils to Bayview, Archer, Giblyn and
Atkinson. The Columbus Avenue School become a kindergarten
center. The integration plan provides for a review of
the non-white balance in each neighborhood school annually.
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In
1964, the old Seaman Avenue School was converted
to an Administration Building. Fire once more plagued
the district when the Grove Street School was burned
in 1966. Increased population pressures required an
addition to Archer Street in 1969, and a new wing
for the High School in 1970.
There
are still many problems yet unsolved, among which are
the split session at the Atkinson School and the overcrowding
at the Dodd Junior High School. The Freeport School
System has grown to include a school population in excess
of 7400 pupils, a professional staff of over 480, and
a cafeteria, clerical and custodial staff of approximately
250.
The
School District has grown up. As long as all citizens
of the community can work together, Freeport's educational
system can serve the community with pride and face the
future with confidence and hope.
Freeport
Public Schools continue "Reaching for the Stars."
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